A Mega Man game called Maverick Hunter was in development before it was unceremoniously canceled by Capcom in 2010. The game was set to be a gritty first-person shooter reboot of Mega Man X. It was six months into its development at Armature Studio, a new developer composed of Metroid Prime talent.
Polygon has learned that the developers made a working prototype of the title replete with its general look and feel. The game was cancelled during company meetings in late 2010 prior to the departure of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune.
Mega Man's armor, seen above, was designed by Adi Granov, the concept artist responsible for the Iron Man movies. Concepts core to the Mega Man X series were reimagined to fit the setting. For example, the character's X-Buster weapon was redesigned as a transforming handheld gun. Mega Man could also salvage weapons from fallen enemies and integrate them into his weapon. The game would switch into third person view as Mega Man charged into enemies to finish them off with a dash and execute a close-range melee attack.
Like the regular Mega Man games, Maverick Hunter would have offered branching paths to force players to make choices throughout the course of the game. The game's level design would have also been influenced by its 2D counterparts, with a variety of areas containing special upgrades secreted away for players to look for.
Had the game been successful, it would have been the first in a trilogy of Maverick Hunter games. The third game would have starred Zero, who fights against X, who had become too powerful over the course of the first two games.
Polygon has further details about the canceled title.